Eye of the Beholder
by Rebecca5
Summary: My take on how our favorite gang would spend a slow evening at HQ.


"What exactly does she plan to do with that hay?" Sara stopped short in the hallway upon hearing Nick's odd comment from the break room.  
  
"I'm not sure, Nick, but my allergies are acting up now."  
  
Sara took three steps back to peer into the room, and was greeted with the sight of Catherine and Nick sitting on the floor in front of the tiny television. "What are you watching?" Her question was greeted with silence as she tried to make out the small figure on the screen. From this angle, it appeared to be a woman dressed all in black balancing on top of a bale of hay. "Guys, what is this?"  
  
"Shhhh!" Catherine motioned Sara into the room with an impatient gesture. "Quiet."  
  
"Dude! She gonna put the hay on the walls?!?" Nick and Catherine began to laugh as Sara gave them her best confused and angry face. If I think hard enough, I can get a flame to catch….  
  
Her concentration was broken by Warrick's entrance into the odd scene before her. "All right! Trading Spaces!" He grabbed a soda from the refrigerator and pulled a folding chair close to the television. "Where are they this week?"  
  
"Oakland. And there's a lesbian couple," Nick replied, his eyes glued to the woman in black who was now spreading glue to a wall and pressing hay against it. She had two helpers who seemed to reluctantly doing the same.  
  
"Sweet! About damn time!"  
  
Sara leaned closer to the television as one of the reluctant hay gluers tried to speak with the woman in black. But Hildi, there are small children here. They're going to be picking this off and trying to eat it.  
  
Well, then, they need to be told not to. Catherine squirted iced tea from her nose as Warrick and Nick laughed. Sara hunted for a few napkins and handed them to Catherine.  
  
"Guys, what the hell is this?" Seconds passed before a commercial break came on, and Nick turned to Sara to explain.  
  
"Trading Spaces. Each team gets a thousand bucks and two days to change a room in their neighbor's home. Each team gets a designer, who calls the shots, and one carpenter to share."  
  
"Who's the peppy lady?"  
  
"That's Paige, the host," Warrick explained. "She can get annoying, but it's great when she's with Hildi."  
  
"Hildi?"  
  
"The crazy New York woman whose stupidity makes me expel beverages through my nose," Catherine answered, still mopping tea from her blouse. Nick giggled, and Catherine threw the wad of wet napkins at him. "All I know is she needs to put the crack pipe down."  
  
"But why—"  
  
"Shhh!" Warrick cut her off, with a different impatient gesture. "Show back, no speak."  
  
Sara sighed and sat down on the couch to watch the show with them. There were worse ways to spend a slow night. Besides, the comments her colleagues made were more entertaining than the show.  
  
"Dude, why is she destroying that beautiful mantle?"  
  
"What is up with those folding wood things over the windows? Lindsey would get her hands caught in those."  
  
"Those glass rods on the fireplace aren't broken, are they?"  
  
"Man, that ceiling is terra-cotta my ass!"  
  
The comments continued as Sara watched, slackjawed with the destruction this woman was wreaking in this beautiful home. She swore these people were insane, and that this woman—Hildi—would never set foot in her apartment.  
  
"Shut up! You men are worse than gossiping old ladies. They're about to do the reveal."  
  
"Oh, man, these women are gonna hate this."  
  
"I bet one of them cries."  
  
"How much?"  
  
"Fifty?"  
  
"I don't get out of bed for less than a bill."  
  
"You're on—"  
  
"Shut up! We're gonna miss it!"  
  
The three huddled closer to the television. Catherine made sure her iced tea was far away and Nick and Warrick giggled like little boys, naming the new Playstation 2 games they would buy with their winnings. Sara simply shook her head. She couldn't see this at all.  
  
"No tears! I see no tears! Pay up!"  
  
"Nah, man, the other lady cried…"  
  
"But those two didn't. Where's my benjamin?"  
  
Nick pulled out his wallet as Catherine and Warrick laughing at Nick, taunting him over his bet. Before Nick could hand over the hundred dollar bill, the voice of God boomed into the room:  
  
"What the hell is going on here?"  
  
The three froze in position, staring with wide eyes at Grissom. Sara remained on the couch, tensing. She hadn't really been participating….  
  
"Do I need to find you some work to do?" Grissom's brow was crinkled, and his eyes angry.  
  
"No, Gris…no, Sir…sorry, boss," the three mumbled as they hurried their way out of the room as quickly as possible. Sara began to rise from the couch.  
  
"No, Sara, I didn't mean you."  
  
"It's ok, Gris, I have some work anyway—"  
  
"No, stay here for a bit," Grissom pleaded, his eyes twinkling slightly. "It's almost time for the next episode." 


End file.
